ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Rock Island is considering establishing a Special Service Area (SSA) that would implement a new property tax.
The SSA would mean a 1.15% property tax in the downtown taxing district, which would in turn benefit from the tax. Funds would be used for downtown revitalization, including beautification and maintenance, boots-on-the-ground hospitality and troubleshooting, façade and interior improvement grants, business attraction and retention and marketing and advertising.
A link to the properties included in the SSA can be found here. It includes about 215 individual property owners representing 434 taxable parcels of land.
"Rest assured that every dollar invested in the SSA is returned downtown via programs, services and capital improvements," said Jack Cullen, downtown Rock Island director, during a public hearing Monday night.
Rock Island City Council listened to the final public hearing on the SSA on Nov. 14. Only a few business owners and residents spoke during the meeting, largely in favor of the SSA.
Cullen believes now is the right time to invest in downtown.
"There are major projects and developments such as the new federal building and the YWCA and many more on the horizon," he said. "The timing cannot be better to leverage our growing momentum. The Special Service Area is the vehicle to bring all of this into the fold, leverage what is being done and ensure we have the resources to continue maintaining, improving programming and promoting our assets downtown. We are on a shared mission to help downtown thrive and when it does, the city of Rock Island will thrive."
Downtown property owners would have a direct say in where the money goes. The SSA would be established in partnership with a new Quad Cities Chamber place management organization.
East Moline, Moline, Davenport and Bettendorf all have SSAs. Like Rock Island's proposal, Davenport and Bettendorf's are managed with contracted services with the Chamber.
The SSA is proposed for a five year trial period. It would generate about $315,000 per year, according to a draft of the budget. The city would fund another $150,000 and private, community partners would contribute $69,750. That would make the total budget for the place management organization $534,750 a year.
Beginning Nov. 15, registered voters and property owners in the SSA can file objection petitions for the next 60 days. Petitions must be submitted by Jan. 13. If at least 51% of registered voters and at least 51% of property owners object to the SSA, the proposal can be stopped for two years.
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